Hopefulhawkeye

For those who asked, I prefer the Edge but there's not a ton of daylight between the two. The Edge is just slightly more modern/refined. The Edge had slightly better specialty dining -- especially Eden. The Edge theatre is a nice upgrade over the Equinox. There were less "dead spaces" on the Edge -- I felt like Equinox had quite a few areas, like Quasar or the glass blowing area that weren't particularly great uses of the space on the ship. That said, if a balcony cabin is a high priority for you. I would say the Equinox wins in that area. I had an inside cabin on the Edge both to save money and because the infinite verandas do not appeal to me. I got a Sunset Balcony on the Equinox and that was wonderful.

Unlike other specialty dining Celebrity offers, Murano does limit you to a single entree per person, but you can still do multiple starters. They do offer desserts aside from the cheese - we weren't terribly impressed by the desert here though. Tuscan Grille's desert options were more impressive to us.

Both comments above are great tips about the alcohol - there are still options for those with the classic package. Just wish they featured some cocktails that are in range for those with the classic package. You'd think this would be kind of win-win for them because it would also free up the bar staff who wouldn't need to spend their time collecting signatures. Just remembered one more amusing part about the art buying process. Early in the cruise, a female member of the staff asked us about what pieces we like and when we told her about the piece we liked because it reminded us of "Porto Venere", she exuberantly exclaimed "Because it is!". When we actually came back to negotiate we ended up working with her male counterpart. He told us the painting was of one of the towns of Cinque Terre. We didn't care, but I'm convinced I could've named any Italian waterfront town and that woman would've been like "Because it is!" 😂

My husband and I have cruised only twice now, both times with Celebrity. Last year we sailed on the Edge for 7 days in the Mediterranean, and earlier this month we were on the Equinox for 9 days in Grand Cayman, Aruba, and Curacao. I wanted to share some thoughts from the recent sailing and compare/contrast a bit between the two experiences. The overall experience with Celebrity feels premium whether it is on the newer Edge class or the Solstice class (Equinox). Service is impeccable. I have felt like my stateroom attendant or my poolside server is a friend of mine by the end of each cruise. On both cruises there was someone who went the extra mile to make the experience special. It saddens me to know that certain passengers don't appreciate these wonderful people as human beings. While perhaps an overshare, one staff member told me that some people treat her as if she is their personal slave and she was nearly in tears. Do better cruisers! It's okay to expect a premium level of service from a premium cruise line, but treat these people how you would want to be treated! The food on both ships has been a highlight. For main dining, we love the buffet, the poolside grill, and the main dining room (MDR). Only have a few minor complaints with main dining. Neither ships MDR could execute a quality pasta dish -- only Tuscan Grill (specialty dining) had great pasta. I vastly preferred the choice of main dining venue the edge class ships provide and also their ability to better accommodate a private dining experience. I also thought the wait staff was stronger on the Edge class ships -- not for lack of trying, but I couldn't help but be annoyed by the waiter who read every last item verbatim off the menus each night. Give me the highlights -- I can read. Celebrity could not miss with the specialty dining -- at least for dinner options. On the Edge we tried both Eden and the Fine Cut Steakhouse - both were among the best meals I've ever had. Murano and Tuscan Grille on the Equinox are also incredible -- I loved the tableside lobster preparation at Murano. I find some of the Lunch specialty dining to be unremarkable though - Sushi on 5 (Equinox) is very mediocre. Le Grand Bistro on the Edge was better but still didn't feel premium. One thing I've learned between the first cruise and the second is not to buy the drink package. They are not worth it unless you drink like a fish. Consider that you get even less value from it for every day of your cruise where you will mostly be off the ship. I priced out the value of the classic package when it was 20% off per person, per day and it was about $58.00. Our actual spend on alcohol and other beverages was $26.00 per person, per day. Granted we are light drinkers, but its still an awful value - especially when you consider that the classic drink package doesn't cover the vast majority of the cocktails featured on bar menus. You'll be paying a 2 dollar or more (+20%) surcharge at just about every bar for every drink. Celebrity absolutely needs to amend their classic package to allow cruisers more choice without a surcharge. One other gripe I have, especially with the more recent cruise, was the heavy-handedness of the sales push onboard. Every drink I got came with a suggestion to get a package, every meal came with reminders of specialty dining, and then there's the spa, the casino, the shops, and on and on....I get that this is the bread and butter for Celebrity and on the front end of a cruise in particular I can forgive this, but this went on through the last night. Let's talk demographics. Celebrity ships, despite what there marketing may have you believe, skew very old. On the Med cruise there was at least a contingent of Europeans that were in their 30's/40's, but on the Equinox, you could've fit everyone under 40 at one large table. It also struck us that there was a wide gulf between the mobility of European seniors versus Americans. We saw so many canes, walkers, and scooters on the Equinox. To be clear, I love seniors, I'm just not in a rush to be one. Multiple cruisers (and even Celebrity's security staff!) thought my husband was a dancer for the theatre shows. There was a distinct lack of shows/activities on both ships that appeal to a younger demographic. We left this cruise with a strong feeling that we need to try a Virgin cruise next, if only not to be called "younguns" for just one day of the cruise. To be clear, even though most of the shows and activities don't have youthful appeal, there is a ton of talent. The singers (theatre cast and headliners) for both cruises were exceptional. I love the emphasis Celebrity has on supporting live music experiences. The cruise directors are always a ton of fun -- I'm young and I still couldn't maintain that level of constant energy. We even saw our cruise director from the Edge serving as activities director on the Equinox. It was great to see a familiar face ("Hi Dave!"). One last tidbit for those who've been curious about the Art aboard celebrity. In addition to the beautiful works that adorn Celebrity ships, both ships have a dedicated art area with pieces for auction. Celebrity appears to lease some of their ship space to a company called Park West to sell art. We didn't engage with this on the Edge, but we did give it a try for the Equinox as we did actually come across a piece of artwork that evoked our Mediterranean vacation that we both loved. As for the auction process itself, it is very gimmicky. They provide complementary champagne and do a sort of reverse auction where they start at a dollar and have everyone get used to holding up their bid card and then drop their hand as they go up in price -- all intended to loosen you up for a higher dollar transaction. They have a couple high-value items that they auction off at extremely high prices and it isn't immediately apparent whether there was anyone actually bidding on those items or if it was just for show. They tell you that you can pre-reserve pieces at a set price that is 5-10% lower than what the piece will start with at auction and as long as no one bids against you, you will get the work at that pre-reserve price. My advice if you see a piece you like is this. Unless you see evidence that others are interested in the same piece, (which is unlikely because art taste is very subjective and there are only 3,000 people on the ship and maybe 150 of them at most are engaging with the auctions) wait until the last day. Make an offer below their "minimum pre-reserve price". You'll find their minimums to be much more flexible at this point. We ended up getting the piece we wanted for about $200.00 less then their "minimum" by doing this. We may well have still overpaid, but the price was fair to us at this point. We loved the piece, we weren't making an investment. All in all, another great cruise. I will be back to cruise with Celebrity, probably many more times. I just need a more youthful cruising experience to switch it up for the next go around. Thanks for listening.